HISTORY
OF KENYA6 Million years ago In 2000 French
researchers found bones in the Rift Valley of Central Kenya that
they called their Millennial Ancestor and believed to be a direct
precursor of humans. Dr. Martin Pickford and co-discoverers named
the fossil Orrorin tugenensis (orrorin means original man in the
Tugen language). The bones were found in the Lukeino Formation of
the Tugen Hills.....

1.
Who are the Ogiek?The Ogiek are
an indigenous people that live in and around the Mau Forest, an area of 900
square kilometers (550 square miles) about 200 kilometers (125
miles) northwest of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya and in the
forests around Mt. Elgon at the border to Uganda.[Return to top of page]

2.
What is the controversy surrounding the Ogiek? For decades, the Ogiek have fought with first the British
colonial and then the Kenyan government over their right to inhabit
the Mau Forest, where they have lived for hundreds of years. The
Kenyan government insists that the area is a forest zone and environmentally
protected under the Forest Act. Authorities have then ordered
the Ogiek to leave the forest, saying that they had been allocated
land years ago but had abandoned it and returned to the forest.
The Ogiek believe that they have a right to live in what they
consider to be their ancestral home and that the government is
trying to force them out of the forest to give the land to private
individuals.[Return to top of page]

3.
Do the Ogiek pose an environmental threat to the forest?No. The Ogiek selectively hunt animals in the Mau Forest that
are not endangered. These animals are hunted for food, not for
sport. Recently, the Ogiek have cut back on their hunting, focusing
more on rearing sheep and goats and growing food such as beans,
potatoes, and cabbage.[Return to top of page]

4.
What is the real threat to the Mau Forest?The Kenyan
government is allowing logging companies to cut down trees in
the Mau Forest. Many of Kenya's protected forests have been illegally
sold or given to developers. The government imposed a partial
logging ban which exempts three big logging companies: Pan African
Paper Mills, Raiply Timber, and Timsales Ltd. According to the
government, the three firms were exempted because Raiply and Timsales
employ over 30,000 Kenyans, while Pan African was exempted because
"the government has shares in it and is important to the economy."
Furthermore, supporters of various politicians close to Kenyan
President Daniel arap Moi have received forest land from the government.
Thus, while the government allows powerful logging companies to
cut down trees in the forest, it is persecuting an indigenous
people who pose no environmental threat and lack political power.[Return to top of page]

5.
Are any other groups being displaced from the Mau Forest?Unfortunately, yes. The Maasai, a
pastoralist people who dwell in the Mau Forest during the dry
seasons, are also being threatened by Kenya's disregard for the
rights of indigenous groups. The Maasai's land once extended over
a vast stretch of area from Lake Victoria almost to the Indian
Ocean. But disease and European colonization in the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries reduced their land substantially.
Since independence in the 1960s, more and more of their land has
been taken over for private farms and ranches, government projects,
and wildlife parks. According to Survival International, six of
Kenya and Tanzania's national parks alone cover more than 13,000
square kilometers (5,000 square miles) of what was once Maasailand.[Return to top of page]

6.
Have the Ogiek petitioned the government for action?For years,
Ogiek representatives asked President Daniel arap Moi and other
Kenyan officials to take action to protect them. When these requests
proved unsuccessful, the Ogiek went to court in 1997 to stop Kenyan
officials from surveying and allocating the Ogiek's land to others.
The Ogiek wanted a declaration that their right to life had been
violated by being evicted from Tinet Forest. (Tinet, about 250
km or 155 miles west of Nairobi, is part of the much larger Mau
Forest.) They also sought orders that the government compensate
them and pay the legal costs. Relations between the Ogiek and
the government deteriorated after the lawsuit, leading to the
1999 order that established Tinet as environmentally protected
land. The Ogiek's lawsuit eventually went to the Kenyan High Court,
who dismissed the case in March 2000 but ordered the Kenyan government
to pay legal costs.[Return to top of page]

7.
Have the Ogiek exhausted their legal options?Not quite. The only legal option the Ogiek have left is to
appeal their case. A date for their appeal has not yet been fixed.
But Kenyan courts are known to delay such cases, even for a year,
while the destruction and settlement on Ogiek lands has not stopped.
Unless legislative action is taken now, much of the forest may
be lost, in which case the land will be meaningless to the Ogiek.
Kenyan courts are known to follow the government line. Even if
the Court of Appeal orders that the Ogiek remain in Mau Forest,
they will not be legal owners of the land and will live under
permanent threat unless legislative action is taken to give them
that guarantee.[Return to top of page]

8.
What do the Ogiek want to do now?They want the government to stop the continued allocation
of Mau Forest. The Ogiek also want the government to enact an
Ogiek Land Act and review Kenya's Forest Act so that they would
have the right to inhabit Mau Forest and traditionally conserve
the forest on behalf of their children. The Ogiek have already
argued their case before a Commission of Inquiry into the Land
Law System in Kenya, which was set up to address contentious land
issues throughout Kenya.[Return to top of page]

9.
Who is supporting the Ogiek?Several organizations
are supporting the Ogiek. First of all the local grassroot
organizations of the Ogiek themselves, like the Ogiek Welfare
Council and surely ECOTERRA Kenya as our node up front. This
website is a partnership between these organizations. Many
renowned international organizations like Survival International
have been instrumental in safeguarding the interests of the Ogiek.
After our spearheading for an Ogiek website, the U.S.-based Digital
Freedom Network and the Kenya-based Rights Features Service
had been instrumental in getting this website up in the first
place and their former input is hereby acknowledged.[Return to top of page]

11.
Is there anything I can do to help the Ogiek?Yes. Our
Take Action section explains
how you can make a difference. You can send protest letters online
to Kenyan officials, send e-mails to friends asking them to act
on behalf of the Ogiek, and download an Ogiek logo and link to
put on your Web site. You can also subscribe
to our e-mail list for updates on the Ogiek.[Return to top of page]

12.
Why will my action make a difference?Kenya is sensitive to international pressure because any negative
portrayal of the country would hurt tourism and the country's
claim that it is a regional leader. We believe that this campaign
will work both inside and outside the Kenyan political system.[Return to top of page]